User talk:Erlopez
Wow! You're wiki looks even better than mine! I think I might edit here now instead as I also like looking at ferries. Gourleyo Visit my talk! 16:11, May 23, 2011 (UTC) Padlocks One idea I have thought of is to have padlocks on some of the protected pages. These will mainly be semi protected pages if there are any but I have come up with one for fully protected ones to. This guide will explain my idea to you. By the way we need to attract more visitors! Gourleyo Visit my talk! 07:55, July 3, 2011 (UTC) New visitor! You know what I said the other day about us needing more visitors, well we've got one! Thedugganaut is now part of the team! Lets try to build up the wiki by asking new users if they know anybody who is also interested in ferries to try and make this wiki a better place. Gourleyo Visit my talk! 15:00, July 5, 2011 (UTC) FerryFun You may have forgotten but about 2 months ago I told you that I was preparing a project called FerryFun (The link is Here). Well I have managed to get the project active for the Wightlink C Class ferries. These can be found by going to The Ferry Wiki:FerryFun. Although I have not been on these boats I have seen pictures of the interior on Flickr. It says that you have been on them on your user page so you might be able to remember these plans but if you can't don't worry. Gourleyo Visit my talk! 18:44, July 5, 2011 (UTC) Making the wiki easier to navigate Hi Erlopez, I have been thinking about how to make this wiki easier to navigate. Currently, if you enter on the main page, you are practically at a dead end - all you can do is link to the most recent ferries added to the wiki, or to links off the "featured article". I think there should be links to the major categories immediately after the "Welcome" paragraph. I would invisage that the major categories be "Ferry Companies" and "Ferries". i.e., every Ferry Company or individual Ferry should be within one of the categories above, which could then be all seen from a single click off the front page. Currently you have put "Ferry Companies" in a category as "Ferries on the Wiki", but I dont think this is descriptive enough for what it is showing. An alternative to the category "Ferry" might be "Active Ferries" and "Past Ferries", so that you can generate seperate lists for each of these. I have put in the coding below that I think should be on the front page (based on the "Ferry Companies" you have there now) that gives an example on how this wiki can be made easier to navigate (I would have tried doing it myself, but I doint have access to edit the front page). To see the coding click on "source" on this page after pressing edit. I hope this helps! PS - I think another good/useful category to add to the ferries is their country of operation. This could be set up in the same way that you have the Ferry Companies set up, so, for example you could have New Zealand (or where ever) as a subcategory of the "Country" category, which can be linked off the front page... Thedugganaut 05:31, July 6, 2011 (UTC) I like the link to ferry company categories you have on the front page, but it isnt very obvious - I think it shoud be made more clear, and be immediately following the Welcome, if you want the site to be useful for casual users. Thedugganaut 02:22, July 29, 2011 (UTC) Categories Ferry Companies :an index of ferry companies on the wiki Ferries :a list of ferries on the wiki : : Restrictions Is there a restriction on the size of the ferry covered by this wiki? (i.e., number of people, whether it carries vehicles, etc). This info might also be useful on the front page. Thedugganaut 07:14, July 7, 2011 (UTC) Wordmark Looking at the recent images box in the editor you uploaded a wordmark for this wiki but it has not appeared on the pages because it has to be a certain size of 250x65 pixels. Somehow you might be able to find a way to resize the image and to try and move the colours to the centre of the box to give an even look. By the way, I have created a small template which you could put on the main page that looks like this: The code for it is and it could be added to soon but for now lets leave it as it is. Gourleyo Visit my talk! 16:45, July 18, 2011 (UTC) Vessel type prefixes Currently in the Sealink page I have the Seacat and Seaway with the prefix "MV", but should they be "HSC"... is there a certain speed threshold to be called "HSC"? Also - do you have a preference for MV or MS on the wiki? These apparently mean the same thing, and are interchangable. Thedugganaut 02:19, July 29, 2011 (UTC) Dont worry about the first part of this question - I have found it referred to as MV here (http://www.times.co.nz/cms/news/2003/08/art10009409.php?), and the speed is probably too low to be considered a "HSC". Thedugganaut 02:37, July 29, 2011 (UTC) ---- MAKING THIS WIKI EVEN BETTER Hello Erlopez! I have thought that as this wiki is getting visitors we could make it even better. One thing you could do is make a Favicon for the wiki (The little blue W in the URL bar). I am aware of a great website for making these which is free and fun to do. Please do not select the animated mode because it will not upload when trying to put it on the wiki. Only animated GIF files (Like the one I have drawn above this text) can be uploaded. For these favicons upload the file with the name Favicon. An .ico will be added to the end. Another thing you could do is upload a wordmark. Currently all you see is some fairly simple text saying The Ferry Wiki. If you upload a wordmark life may totally get better as more people will be attracted because of a more friendly logo. For this mabe you could crop a picture of a ferry into the right positions and find a good looking font (Perhaps some word art if you have Windows) and write the name of the wiki over the top however it will look best if the text is central. Also I have thought of an idea where new users when they get to the wiki can easily find out what popular pages are and also who top editors are so they know who to ask for help. This template is an idea which if you like yo could place on the main page. It can be found Here. Gourleyo Visit my talk! 09:44, July 30, 2011 (UTC) Website link The link for this favicon website is Here. Gourleyo Visit my talk! 12:58, July 30, 2011 (UTC) Featured Article posts Well, it is Gourleyo back for another wiki idea. This time the subject is the Featured Article. Currently this wiki has no record of knowing what pages have been featured articles in the past. Starting on MV Normandie I have thought of a template where you can know that it was a featured article. This is the code: We could place it on articles that are featured in the followind weeks. What do you think? Gourleyo Visit my talk! 16:49, July 30, 2011 (UTC) Program I used Microsoft Paint (The Windows XP version) to create the slider. Gourleyo Visit my talk! 09:13, August 1, 2011 (UTC) Forum For an open discussion page on this wiki I have created a link to the forum from the Main Page as it is no longer protected onto the scroller. Also I have changed the wiki markup to a simple template so the code is more simple. If you want to find the scroller go here http://theferry.wikia.com/wiki/Template:MPScroller. I have also added a tools template to replace the first person navigation message. I have mentioned this in one of my previous messages but the code is . Gourleyo Visit my talk! 17:38, August 3, 2011 (UTC) Sid in the Lake Hello Erlopez! I will not be here for 2 weeks but for something I sometimes do in my spare time, I have created an SWF (A 'S'hock'W'''ave '''F'lash movie) called Sid in the Lake. I have published it at SWF Cabin and the link is here. Tell me what you think of it and on the page vote up or down. Please note, to do this you will have to have flash installed and you may find loading the page can be slow. If it is, do something else for one minute (but not in that window) and then come back. I am having a go at making a series of short films under the name People Lives. This is the pilot for it. I will post you a link to the first proper episode I make in a few weeks time. Good luck! Gourleyo Visit my talk! 13:20, August 5, 2011 (UTC) Ok! What I find works when a ferry has lots of photos taken by a user is to create either a gallery or a slideshow of photos (not the main page one). Try and also take photos of the interior as well as the exterior. Good luck! Gourleyo Visit my talk! 14:25, August 5, 2011 (UTC)